5 Cool Gadgets That Can Connect To Your Amazon Alexa

If you've ever tried using a smart plug to convert your regular lamp to one you can control from your phone, then you already have an idea of how convenient it is to have smart devices at home. They save you the trouble of manually managing your appliances and lighting, both when you're in the house and away for work or vacation. They become even more efficient when paired with a voice assistant like Amazon Alexa.

Instead of having to grab your phone, open an app, and tap on the menus, all you have to do now is call Alexa and say a command. With how big a platform Alexa is, it's no longer surprising that hundreds and thousands of smart home devices support it, from smart speakers to lights to security cameras. But beyond these essentials, there are actually plenty of other nifty smart gadgets you can connect to Alexa.

Air purifiers are easily one of the best smart home upgrades for making your home more comfortable, and if you're planning to connect one to Alexa, among the top options to consider is the SwitchBot Air Purifier Table. Rated at a Clean Air Delivery Rate (CADR) of 236CFM, this air purifier can work in rooms as large as 360 square feet and offers 360-degree purification. It only takes about 30 minutes to eliminate roughly 98% of smoke, cooking smell, pet fur, and other airborne irritants, doing so with the help of three filtration layers. The first is a washable and reusable filter for absorbing 93% of pet hair, while the second is a HEPA filter for removing 99.99% of bacteria, and the third layer is a carbon filter for neutralizing 98% of odor.

Beyond cleaning the air, this air purifier doubles as a wireless phone charger, ambient lighting, coffee or bedside table, and fragrance diffuser. The wireless charger outputs a maximum of 7.5W for iPhones and 15W for Android, just enough for overnight charging. The built-in light, on the other hand, has customizable brightness and colors to set the mood, but by default, it can tell you the quality of your air with color coding — blue for very good, green for good, orange for moderate, and red for bad.

The SwitchBot Air Purifier is compatible with major smart home platforms, including Amazon Alexa. When paired with Alexa, you can use voice commands to control the device, such as asking for its status by saying, "Alexa, is the [your device name] open/closed?" You can also turn it on and off and set it to a different mode or level.

Your old tablet works great for displaying GIFs, photos, and fun animations. The problem, though, is that you can't have it on all the time; otherwise, its battery will degrade quickly, and the screen might develop burn-in. Fortunately, Govee makes the Gaming Pixel Light. While "Gaming" is in its name, it isn't really exclusive to gaming. You can use it as a cool display anywhere around the home. It features a 30 fps flicker-free pixel screen, where you can show all sorts of pixel designs. 

There are at least 150 preset designs available in the companion app, including handy information like weather forecast, time, daily NBA matches, and fun scenes like game-based pixel art and dynamic space-inspired GIFs. If you're not a fan of the preset options, you can simply upload an existing GIF, draw your own pixel art in the app, or use the AI chatbot to create one. The pixel light also includes a retro speaker, so you can add music to your designs. Other than the basic designs, Govee Gaming Pixel Light offers a music mode, where the design only moves with the sound of your voice or music. 

When installing the pixel light, pick a location that's close enough to a power outlet, as it needs to be plugged in. You can opt to set the display on a tabletop or mount it on a wall. Both mounting options are already included in the package. As for the display's integration with Alexa, you can use the Alexa app to set routines to turn the device on or off, adjust the brightness, and even choose a custom design to show. 

If your doors have a smart security lock, it's only fitting to integrate some smart technology with your pet doors, too. One option is the Pawport Smart Pet Door. It's built to swing open the moment it detects the smart tag attached to your pet's collar, letting your furry friend exit and enter your home as they wish. You can also manually set it to only unlock within a specified schedule, but under certain conditions — like during rain and thunderstorms, it automatically locks itself to prevent exits. Every time your pet uses the door, you'll get alerted on the companion mobile app.

Design-wise, the Pawport uses solid steel, aircraft-grade aluminum, and a dual deadbolt locking mechanism to restrict unwanted forced entry. If the door somehow gets opened by an unauthorized party, it will sound an alarm and send you a notification. You can also use any regular smart door sensor on the back of the Pawport for extra protection. Speaking of protection, the door is made to be pinch-proof. It also reopens when something is in its way to avoid hurting your pet.

You can install the Pawport on walls, doors, or even glass, and connect it to an existing pet door — but there are also full configurations available if you don't have a pet door yet. Just make sure that the location is compatible with your chosen power option. For instance, if your door is a plugged-in type, be sure it's close enough to an outlet. If it's solar-powered with a battery, the outer part must be facing the sun. With Alexa integration, Pawport allows you to do basic voice control, like locking and unlocking the door. 

By now, everybody and their mother has a robot vacuum at home, but the Segway Navimow X430 is built for one-acre yards, so it should be one of those cool new robots you can buy on Amazon. It has a 17-inch cutting width and an auto-adjusting cutting height range of 0.75 to four inches. On a single charge, the mower can cover about 0.22 acres and go as fast as 2.6 feet per second. You'll need to recharge it a couple of times to finish an entire acre, but with its 224W fast charging, you'd only have to wait 90 minutes.

Under the hood, the Segway Navimov X430 features two 180W motors, an advanced four-wheel drive system, and all-terrain control. The motors make for efficient mowing even on tough and dense grass. Meanwhile, the drive system and all-terrain control helps the mower go over 2.8-inch bumps and take on steep 40-degree inclines. It's also suitable for all sorts of landscapes, including waterlogged yards, stone paths, and patchy turf. The mower is even designed with turn and obstacle-detection technology that prevents damaging your lawn and items on it while it's steering around.

When operating, the Segway Navimov X430 only produces less than 68dBA, which is just as loud as a normal conversation. It also has an IP66 rating, making it dust-proof and resistant to powerful water jets. That means you can readily run it in the rain and wash it off with a regular hose. For added convenience, you can connect it to Alexa, letting you use your voice to start and stop it as needed and set a mowing schedule.

Regular smart light bulbs are typically enough to set the mood in a room. But if you want a real conversation starter added to your smart home setup, you might prefer something like the Lepro TB1 AI Smart Table Lamp. Designed with spinning inner rings, this table lamp features futuristic spiral galaxy hardware with equally futuristic software.

What makes its software feel futuristic is its AI chatbot, which is trained using color psychology. This is what you'll use to set the lighting animation. Simply send a voice prompt in the app — like "Create a calm vibe," "Give me morning light," or "I'm sad" — and the lamp will give you as many as ten lighting mode recommendations. You can even upload a photo for the chatbot to draw inspiration from. From the recommendations, you can then tap on one to apply it right away, or add it to your favorites for easy access later.

Besides AI-generated lighting modes, the Lepro TB1 lets you set the colors manually. You're free to change the brightness and lighting effects of each of the three rings to your liking via the mobile app. There's also a Music Mode that uses the mic from your phone and the lamp to sync the colors displayed to music. You can further customize Music Mode with different lighting animations, such as Flash, Wave, and Laser. After connecting the Lepro TB1 to Amazon Alexa, you'll get basic control of the lights. You can ask Alexa to dim the lamp to a specific brightness percentage or turn it on or off as needed.